NASA's Deep Impact comet explorer was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on 13 January, aboard a Boeing Delta II booster. Although the spacecraft initially went into "safe" mode, normal operations were soon restored and the craft is now en route for a rendezvous with the comet Tempel 1. On 4 July the explorer will deploy a probe to collide with the comet's nucleus, releasing material that will be analysed by the instruments on the mother ship.
Source: Flight International